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I’m not 100% certain, but I feel like I’ve heard that facial drooping can sometimes be normal and not harmful at all? It’s good that you noticed it and spoke with a vet to have it assessed. I’m curious what other members have in terms of experience and knowledge.

We’ve had buns with facial paralysis here. It can be due to an ear infection, but I remember one bun that hit its head when it made a miscalculated jump from a box and got facial paralysis as a result. In that instance the owner saw the fall, otherwise they’d not have known what caused the facial paralysis.

Not sure what happened, but sending vibes!!

Wow, how strange!

I have no knowledge of this in rabbits, but my roommate once had Bell’s palsy. It was temporary in her case, which was lucky for her. It did affect once whole side of her face, including her eye-lid. It was crazy, she would have to manually blink her eye with her finger, and tape her eyelid shut to sleep.

So in your case, it’s interesting that it’s just the lip/cheek, and not the eye or ear on that side.

Glad you are working on it with your vet and that everything seems normal for the most part!

Wooly has permanent facial paralysis, but we know the cause. His eye is somewhat affected on that side as well, but he can still blink.

There does seem to be some kind of nerve damage. As Bam said, there was a member here who had a rabbit with facial paralysis that was caused by trauma. It is much more common to see facial paralysis as the result of an ear issue though. There can be permanent nerve damage or it can be temporary.

Did the vet take x-rays? I remember one bunny here on BB not too long ago. No symptoms… nothing. Suddenly there was facial paralysis. Turned out, there was an abscess deep inside the skull. It had originated from the inner ear, but it was encapsulated in there so there wasn’t evidence of an ear infection that was visible from the ear canal.

Medirabbit has a little about the subject. While it list some worrying causes, it’s not always the case. http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/Neurology/Differentials/facial.htm

My rabbit Gooseman also has permanent facial nerve damage. It contracts the muscles on one side. Sometimes it looks more contracted then others…
He has an abscess affecting the bulla of the ear and had surgery, so it’s most likely there was some damage from that time. He was receiving penicillin shots prior to that and on one occasion, the nurse felt that she had hurt him as he jumped and let out a squeak. I always wondered if some nerve damage could have been done then. He manages fine, it doesn’t affect his eating, tongue movements or swallowing.

Hi there! How is Olive doing? Did you get an xray? My bun, Gus, is having a seemly identical problem and I was wondering how Olive progressed. Well, I hope!